OCR

53 THE TWIN VENTRILOQ UIST8.
I do not know.”
I must find out,” said the youth. “I was greatly
taken with Miss ‘Sidney; she was a very charming young
lady. We shall miss her."
At that instant there came the announcement:
“Miss Sidney left the house because she was robbed."
‘ Every one started. No one appeared to know who
,‘had spoken, but the young man gave a start, turned
'pale and asl.;' 1- in a voice that trembled perceptibly:
“Who says she was robbed?”
At that moment the landlady returned to the room.
She saw that something had gone wrong.
“What is the matter?” she asked.
No one answered, and there followed a moment’s
awkward silence, broken at length by the bumptious
young man, who said:
“Some one stated that Miss Sidney left here because
she had been robbed.”
The landlady’s face flushed scarlet as she said:
“Who made the statement?”
No one answered.
“It’s false,” said the landlady, “and I should like to
know who said she had been robbed.”
“I said so.”
The voice appeared to come from the old maid type-
writer, and the landlady at once exclaimed:
“ Miss Gaynor, did you state that Miss Sidney left here
Because she was robbed?”
“I did not,” declared Miss Gaynor, indignantly.
“I said so,” came a voice from the far end of the table.
The landlady looked in the direction indicated. An old
man set there and the voice was that of an old man.
“Did you say so, Mr. Smith?”
“I did not, madam,” declared the elderly gentleman in
an angry tone. -
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